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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Set in both the '70s and present-day, Mix Tape tells the story of Alison and Dan and their relationship. s
As teenagers in Sheffield, both bond over their mutual love of music. When Alison lives through a traumatic experience she up and leaves to Australia, crushing Daniel. 30 years later, now living different lives with different people, they find each other again via Twitter and begin to reconnect through the form of music.
This book should have been right up my street but unfortunately, I struggled to get into this. I just couldn't engage with either Alison or Dan. Maybe the concept was too nuanced for me that it went over my head but I couldn't wrap my head around the thought of upsetting your established life and relationships over a relationship that took place 30 years ago.
I can't fault the book itself, it's well written with fully fleshed characters. It also doesn't shy away for difficult themes and handles them sensitively and with grace.
I wish that I could say I enjoyed this book but I did keep looking at how much I had left to read which isn't particularly a great sign.
I would give 3/5 stars since I thought it was very well written but I just couldn't engage with the plot.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
As teenagers in Sheffield, both bond over their mutual love of music. When Alison lives through a traumatic experience she up and leaves to Australia, crushing Daniel. 30 years later, now living different lives with different people, they find each other again via Twitter and begin to reconnect through the form of music.
This book should have been right up my street but unfortunately, I struggled to get into this. I just couldn't engage with either Alison or Dan. Maybe the concept was too nuanced for me that it went over my head but I couldn't wrap my head around the thought of upsetting your established life and relationships over a relationship that took place 30 years ago.
I can't fault the book itself, it's well written with fully fleshed characters. It also doesn't shy away for difficult themes and handles them sensitively and with grace.
I wish that I could say I enjoyed this book but I did keep looking at how much I had left to read which isn't particularly a great sign.
I would give 3/5 stars since I thought it was very well written but I just couldn't engage with the plot.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Strong 3/3.5. The playlist was amazing and I loved the way the music carried the story. The characters were a bit annoying, but overall I enjoyed it.
What a fantastic book by Jane Sanderson. Mix Tape follows Dan and Alison, two relatable characters who fall in love as teenagers in Sheffield, before Alison unexpectedly disappears. Today, Alison lives in Adelaide with her family, while Dan is living in Edinburgh. They reconnect through Twitter and don't send written messages to each other, only songs. The book flashes between the past (where you discover why Alison ran away) and the present. It is also told from both perspectives. I couldn't put this book down because I needed to know how it was going to end - living on other sides of the world, how could they plausibly reconnect? But Sanderson gives them the happy ending they deserve.
I received an ARC through NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
I received an ARC through NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.
Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Scotland 30 years later. It was this part of the story that I felt a connection to first. Sheffield in the past was filled with people good and bad, lives that were perfect and ones that were hidden.
The present was much less nuanced. (Admittedly, Australia was vibrant and descriptive, but it wasn’t nuanced.) Like any romance of missed opportunities, we are told to believe that where people are at the start is not their happy ending. They may be playing happy families in a marriage with children and a comfortable house, but we’re supposed to see the cracks. We’re meant to accept that half the couple is unhappy...
...and it doesn’t matter that the other half is happy.
I couldn’t get over the fact that we were meant to be okay that Ali and Dan broke up their happy relationships because they were “meant to be with each other”. It’s not the finding each other again that I had a problem with, it was the ruining everyone else’s happiness for the chance. Maybe I’m the romance grinch (in fact, I’m sure I’m the romance grinch), but I think one romance shouldn’t be at the cost of other people’s unhappiness.
I also couldn’t ignore the fact that we were being encouraged to forget the unhappiness because we were being told how not good the partners were. Michael (Ali’s husband) genuinely seemed good, just not good for Ali. He cares about her and their family, but he just does it a little forcefully. Yes, he’s stubborn at times and yes, he refuses to listen to her, but she also fails to communicate with him. Likewise with Katelin (Dan’s wife? partner?), she gets obsessive and doesn’t stop asking questions after Dan tells her he cheated on her, but that’s *because* he cheats on her; who wouldn’t be upset and want to know what they did wrong? And then we just gloss over their reactions, say, “yeah they won’t stop calling” and move on.
What I did like about this book were the relationships the characters had with others (that they weren’t married to). Or the relationships Ali had at least. They were rocky at times and filled with secrets and betrayal, but her relationships seemed genuine; I’m very glad she found her brother and met Dan’s father again at the end.
I also appreciated the music part of it. Whilst I didn’t feel nostalgia towards it, I could appreciate what it did and how it played a huge part in the identity of Ali and Dan. Maybe my listening experience would have been improved by listening to the songs whilst I read.
Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Scotland 30 years later. It was this part of the story that I felt a connection to first. Sheffield in the past was filled with people good and bad, lives that were perfect and ones that were hidden.
The present was much less nuanced. (Admittedly, Australia was vibrant and descriptive, but it wasn’t nuanced.) Like any romance of missed opportunities, we are told to believe that where people are at the start is not their happy ending. They may be playing happy families in a marriage with children and a comfortable house, but we’re supposed to see the cracks. We’re meant to accept that half the couple is unhappy...
...and it doesn’t matter that the other half is happy.
I couldn’t get over the fact that we were meant to be okay that Ali and Dan broke up their happy relationships because they were “meant to be with each other”. It’s not the finding each other again that I had a problem with, it was the ruining everyone else’s happiness for the chance. Maybe I’m the romance grinch (in fact, I’m sure I’m the romance grinch), but I think one romance shouldn’t be at the cost of other people’s unhappiness.
I also couldn’t ignore the fact that we were being encouraged to forget the unhappiness because we were being told how not good the partners were. Michael (Ali’s husband) genuinely seemed good, just not good for Ali. He cares about her and their family, but he just does it a little forcefully. Yes, he’s stubborn at times and yes, he refuses to listen to her, but she also fails to communicate with him. Likewise with Katelin (Dan’s wife? partner?), she gets obsessive and doesn’t stop asking questions after Dan tells her he cheated on her, but that’s *because* he cheats on her; who wouldn’t be upset and want to know what they did wrong? And then we just gloss over their reactions, say, “yeah they won’t stop calling” and move on.
What I did like about this book were the relationships the characters had with others (that they weren’t married to). Or the relationships Ali had at least. They were rocky at times and filled with secrets and betrayal, but her relationships seemed genuine; I’m very glad she found her brother and met Dan’s father again at the end.
I also appreciated the music part of it. Whilst I didn’t feel nostalgia towards it, I could appreciate what it did and how it played a huge part in the identity of Ali and Dan. Maybe my listening experience would have been improved by listening to the songs whilst I read.
Such a lovely heartfelt book.
The connection between them over 3 decades was so great it couldn’t be ignored.
The connection between them over 3 decades was so great it couldn’t be ignored.
Not a book I'd reread. There's no doubt that music can be a balm for the soul but this book tried to tackle too many plots at once.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly, I think this deserves the 5 stars. A very orginal concept with complex storylines that intertwine beautifully. The characters have the right amount of depth in them, lingering in your mind even long after you've finished the book. Somehow when you close it and put it on the shelf, it still feels like their story isn't over; as if the full stop on the last page was not at all an ending, but a beginning of something else entirely. Could it all have been written in less pages? Yes, but it's still an easy and enjoyable read overall. Listening to the mix tape afterwards really makes you feel the story on a different level, so I would recommend it just to let it all come full circle in the end.
I’m a sucker for a love story with a great soundtrack but imagine writing a bestselling novel that the love of your life refuses to read because he “only reads music biographies”?
I was really excited to read this book as I thought the storyline was great. Mix Tape tells the story of Alison and Daniel both as teenagers and then thirty-odd years later when they unexpectedly come back into each other's lives.
I loved how the book moved between 1978/9 and 2012/3 and between Sheffield, Edinburgh and Adelaide. Jane Sanderson manages to do this really well and with great clarity so it is straightforward for the reader. I also really loved the premise of the 'mix tape' itself and the modern version when in 2012/3.
I really enjoyed Mix Tape, but I thought it was a touch too long and I wasn't as invested in Alison and Daniel as I probably should have been.
I definitely enjoyed Mix Tape and I'm glad that I read it, but I'm not sure I would hurry to read it again.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I loved how the book moved between 1978/9 and 2012/3 and between Sheffield, Edinburgh and Adelaide. Jane Sanderson manages to do this really well and with great clarity so it is straightforward for the reader. I also really loved the premise of the 'mix tape' itself and the modern version when in 2012/3.
I really enjoyed Mix Tape, but I thought it was a touch too long and I wasn't as invested in Alison and Daniel as I probably should have been.
I definitely enjoyed Mix Tape and I'm glad that I read it, but I'm not sure I would hurry to read it again.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.